SDG Partnership Platform Launched in Kenya

The government of Kenya and the UN have lave launched the SDG Partnership Platform to strengthen primary and community healthcare in Africa.

The government of Kenya and the United Nations (UN) have lave launched a new initiative called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Partnership Platform that aims to strengthen primary and community healthcare in Africa.

The issues facing primary healthcare in Africa are complicated and multifaceted. Creating sustainable improvement therefore means addressing challenges that range from the unavailability of qualified healthcare workers and the lack of electricity, water and basic healthcare technology in many areas, to sustainability and a lack of reliable data.

This SDG Partnership Platform will bring together executive leadership from government, development partners, private sector organisations and civil society to investigate opportunities for accelerating universal access to primary healthcare services in Kenya.

Special focus will be given to addressing gaps in human resources, healthcare financing, essential medicines, medical supplies, health information and the use of technology.

“The Government of Kenya is committed to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage. We are open to fostering partnerships that are dynamic and mutually beneficial and we foresee great potential in the SDG partnership platform,” said Cabinet Secretary for Health in Kenya, Dr Cleopa Mailu.

Royal Philips is coming on board as the first private sector partner of the platform and will immediately provide support to start work on establishing a common fact-base on primary healthcare by assessing current and future healthcare needs. This will allow platform members to jointly identify, design and implement transformative initiatives in pursuit of the platform’s ambitions.

Philips has also committed support for two years to the establishment of the SDG Healthcare Platform Secretariat.

“You cannot achieve prosperity without quality healthcare, so we are excited to come on board and contribute effectively to the SDG Partnership Platform on Primary Healthcare Transformation,” said CEO at Philips Africa, Jasper Westerink.

“Philips is passionate about healthcare, because more than in any other sector, it has a direct and dramatic positive impact on the quality of people’s lives. As a key stakeholder in this sector, we are determined to align agendas and incentives that eliminate barriers to healthcare access. No single business, institution or government organisation can solve this pressing issue on its own. The SDG Partnership Platform underpins our collective responsibility to ensure we all have access to high quality affordable primary healthcare,” continued Westerink.

“The constitution of Kenya guarantees the rights to health as contained under article 43. The Council of Governors of Kenya is looking forward to closely collaborating with the SDG Partnership Platform to help accelerate universal access to primary healthcare in Kenya’s 47 counties through unlocking transformative public-private partnership investments,” said CEO at Council of Governors, Jacqueline Mogeni.

“We are excited about this ambitious new Partnership Platform. Everyone has a role to play in the delivery of the SDGs and partnering with responsible, innovative businesses such as Philips in that process raises our chances of becoming the first generation to end poverty,” said UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative to Kenya, Siddharth Chatterjee.

“Philips wants to contribute to the process of co-creating new solutions, new business models, and meaningful partnerships to provide innovations that make an impact. The SDG Partnership Platform will enable the dialogue and decision making required to jointly define new pathways to ensure that the provision of healthcare in the SDGs reaches everyone, everywhere,” concluded Westerink.